1. Technical Field
The technical field is surgical instruments, and, more particularly, surgical kits incorporating surgical instrumentation for performing a preliminary diagnostic endoscopic examination of a patient.
2. Background of Related Art
Emergency diagnostic facilities such as hospital emergency rooms and military triage units require fast and accurate preliminary examinations of incoming patients in order to prioritize the patients' conditions and offer immediate medical care to those facing life-threatening situations. However, in such hospital emergency rooms and military triage units, appropriate diagnostic medical equipment such as x-rays, magnetic resonance imaging, etc. may not be available or may require too much time per patient for any individual patient with critical injuries. Similarly, video screen monitors, computers, light source apparatuses and gas insufflation apparatuses generally are not available due, in part, to the relative expense of these systems and the high number of patients which may be present in the unit at a given time.
Incoming patients in hospital emergency rooms and military triage units frequently have internal injuries to the thoracic or abdominal area of the patient which must be diagnosed to understand the nature and extent of the injuries and immediacy of each patient's need for treatment. X-rays, magnetic resonance imaging and blood tests may require too much time to be performed and provide limited information. Endoscopic or laparoscopic inspection of the thoracic or abdominal cavity may allow medical personnel to rapidly ascertain the nature and seriousness of the patient's condition. However, as noted above, the appropriate diagnostic equipment necessary to perform endoscopic inspection and diagnosis may not always be available. Further, even if the equipment is available, set up of this medical equipment for each individual entails a substantial amount of time. In addition, once the medical equipment is used it must be resterilized for each subsequent use.
Accordingly, the present disclosure is directed to a disposable self-contained surgical instrumentation kit which incorporates the essential medical equipment required to insufflate the abdominal cavity of a patient and perform a preliminary examination of the patient to ascertain the nature and extent of internal injuries to the patient and the immediacy of the need for treatment.